Solapur is
basically a religious abode for many people in India and
Maharashtra. It is situated in a

Hindu pilgrimage route, and
caters to the pilgrims and tourists traveling to the
neighboring state

of Karnataka as well. So the
restaurants available mainly offer a vegetarian cuisine. The
names of

the restaurants often have a
religious meaning or something to do with the Hindu
religion, like ‘Annapurna’, who is the Goddess of Anna,
meaning food. In a wider sense she is a goddess who gives
spiritual and material support to all who pray to her. Also
the Restaurant ‘Upasana” in the Hotel “Tripursundari” has a
religious connotation. Upasana is another word for
meditation or worship of the deity.

There is a large range of hotels with restaurants catering to
prices, which all can afford. Some

luxurious places offer
continental as well as Chinese food with their Indian
delicacies. India is famous

for its hospitality and guests
at a restaurant are given individual attention and all their
needs are

looked after.

As I mentioned earlier, Solapur has many pilgrims, especially
during the Hindu festivals. Often food

is served to the pilgrims in
the temples starting with simple rice, vegetables and
lentils, but topped

with a pudding, which is
famous in Solapur and is called ‘lapshi’. It is made of
broken wheat or cracked wheat mixed with jaggery or sugar.
The wheat’s grainy texture lends this dish a special flavor.

One cannot find standard fast-food joints like Mac Donald’s and
Pizza Hut, but the local fast food joints are called ‘Dhabas’,
where meals are provided cooked in small hutments, or a
make-shift garage, converted into a restaurant. A vegetarian
meal with rice, Indian wheat bread, lentils, two types of
vegetables and a pudding is called a ‘Thali’ and is more
than enough to fill your stomach. Often food is unlimited
and the guests get a refill as many times as they like. One
of the famous dhabas is the Reliance A1 Dhaba and is
frequented by bus-travelers or families and groups of
students traveling by road.

Food kiosks, coffee shops and canteens are mushrooming in Solapur
in close proximity of business centers and colleges and
educational institutions. Today Solapur is a city frequented
by business tourists. So there are various categories of
hotels, from the 1-star to the 5-star ones, which can

cater to all your needs. All
these hotels serve typical food from Maharashtra, but